Listening to Fast-Tempo Music Improves Physical Performance in Recreational Swimmers

Purpose: To determine whether swimming while listening to fast (140 bpm) or moderate tempo (120 bpm) music enhances physical performance compared to a non-music condition. Methods: Sixteen healthy university students (21.5 ± 2.3 years) with a minimum of one year of experience swimming front crawl were recruited. All completed four testing sessions. In the first session, a graded exercise treadmill test was performed to establish baseline fitness. The next three visits were at the swimming pool and participants were asked to swim as far as possible in 12-minutes (i.e., Swimming Cooper Test) under each of three randomly assigned conditions: 120 bpm (M120), 140 bpm (M140) and a non-music condition (NM). Results: No significant differences were found between conditions for either heart rate (p > .05) or rating of perceived exertion (p > .05). However, differences were found on distance covered (p = .014) between M120 (305.7 ± 19.7 m) and M140 (321.2 ± 19.4 m; p = .035), and on stroke frequency (p = .009) between M120 (48.4 ± 1.8) and M140 (51.6 ± 1.9; p = .028). Conclusion: These results suggest that distance covered and the frequency of strokes per minute were greater when participants were exposed to fast tempo music (M140) compared to moderate tempo music (M120) and a non-music condition (NM) in a 12-minute swimming test.